1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to emergency exit door latches, and more particularly, to emergency exit door latches which open upon applying pressure to the emergency exit door or emergency exit door latch.
2. General Considerations and Prior Art
Public buildings such as schools, theaters, auditoriums, restaurants and the like must, by law, be equipped with latches that can be readily opened from within the buildings should there be a fire or other emergency situation. As a practical matter, it is necessary that the doors be locked against outside entry so that unauthorized persons cannot easily enter the building.
Currently, the emergency exit door latches used to accomplish the aforementioned objectives utilize push bars to permit occupants of the buildings to open doors by simply pushing the push bars. These push bars have a major drawback when used with emergency doors because any person inside of the building may simply push on the bars and open the doors immediately. Even if an alarm is sounded, there is not sufficient time to prevent a person pushing a bar from leaving the building and perhaps stealing contents from within the building. In schools this is a particularly acute problem because school authorities tend to put locks and chains on the emergency exit doors to prevent the doors from being opened. The locks and chains of course defeat the entire purpose of having emergency exit door latches which will allow the doors to open when pressure is exerted against the inside of the doors or against operators for the latches.
It is therefore readily seen that there is a need for a different kind of emergency exit door latch which will provide security while still allowing people within buildings to escape quickly in an emergency situation.